Gunfire 76 – ‘Casualties & Tragedies’ (Wednesday 13 Records)
CD Reviews
Written by Dom Daley
Saturday, 17 October 2009 22:40
First up, can I say that the original concept of Gunfire 76 being a musical collaboration of Todd Youth and Wednesday 13 seemed like a mouthwatering concept and one that was very much pencilled into the Uber Rock calender as a ‘must buy’ even before a note was heard.
However, the reality was that this cloak and dagger project ended up being just Wednesday 13 as sadly Mr Youth and his uber cool six string aural assault just wasn’t to be. Anyway, all the noises coming out of the Gunfire camp were that Mr 13 was going to deliver a garage rock classic. With very little fanfare, ‘Casualties And Tragedies’ arrived claiming to sound like the Stooges, Deadboys, Kiss and New York Dolls…..certainly a big claim for any band.
I pressed play on the old pc and gave it it’s first airing. I couldn’t really hear a great deal of Stooges or Deadboys going on but that’s not the point; their spirit is here. I think it’s a strong release and definitely a step in the right direction for W13 – no more horror comedy titles, just a load of three minute garage rock anthems played with buckets of enthusiasm. ‘Lets Kill The Hero’ rattles out of the stereo and is a punchy enough opener sounding very much like the Coop when he went back to his garage on the ‘Dirty Diamonds’ album.
The songs are played by a damn good band who sound like they’ve been grounded on the likes of Faster Pussycat and no doubt are familiar with a note or two of the bands mentioned like Hanoi Rocks, Kiss, New York Dolls and some of the 80’s glam and sleaze acts. With songs about birds, booze, sex and good old rock n roll, this could well be the prolific Mr 13’s best work to date and is an album you can either dip in and out of or leave it on to play right the way through. The title track is all choppy guitars playing some neat riffs and rock n roll lyrics with a nice lick on the chorus you’ve heard before but who gives a fuck? It sounds great and the soundtrack to a great house party.
It sounds like W13 is having a busload of fun playing tracks like ‘Nothing’s All I Need’ with a great riff and some cowbell rhythm kicking this ditty on. ‘Rocket To Nowhere’ rattles off with a very ‘Bathroom Wall’ intro. With an extensive UK tour coming up on the back of a US jaunt, I reckon these songs will sound superb played by a band into their groove in some trashy venue. I’d love Wednesday 13 to continue down this path and see where he can take it, and after a year on the road blasting out these bad boys I hope that there is another one at the back end of all this. So another Gunfire 76 album please Mr 13 in about twelve months, if that’s alright. As the song goes ” I know its only rock n roll but I like it” – never a more apt song for Gunfire 76 to encore with…..